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Purgatory and Hell: Forgotten Destinations – Part I

hell
Lucifer, King of Hell; Canto XXXIV of The Inferno, by Dante Alighieri; Illustration by Gustave Doré

Part 1 of a 4-part series: Part I | Part IIPart IIIPart IV

Part 1: Hell is Real, and You Could Go There

If one were to sample the doctrine of today’s sermons and books, one would think that every human being who has ever been and ever will be follows the high road to heaven. No matter that some paths are crooked, others straight; they all go to the same place—that’s the only destination on the other side of life. “God writes straight with crooked lines,” we read in the gleeful brochures for self-discovery workshops.

But there was a thirteenth-century poet, Dante, whose great poem Divina Commedia takes a different line. He thought that there were three possible destinations and devoted an equal number of cantos (33) to each one: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. The titles of the three parts are revealing and worth a little thought, especially by those who are tempted to think that souls die only in order to rise upwards into eternal bliss. If we manage to push through the brambles of scholarly deconstruction and reach back to the simple words of the Gospels, we may even discover that Jesus Himself held similar views. Perhaps Dante, although he was a medieval Catholic (and medieval Catholics, as historians tell us with a hint of disdain, made a lot of things up), was not making things up after all.

This series of articles will present several meditations on the afterlife, with particular attention paid to the neglected habitations mentioned in the title. If we can grasp more clearly just a few truths about the world to come—something of its geography, so to speak, and the characteristics of its inhabitants—we may be able to infuse into our lives a greater yearning for the paradise we hope to attain by God’s grace, a deeper gratitude for the purifying power of divine love, and a wholesome loathing for the punishment reaped by unrepented mortal sin. As St. Thomas Aquinas says, “Let our thoughts. . .dwell on retribution, imitating the holy King Hezekiah: ‘I said, in the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell’ (Is 38:10). A mind which goes down to hell often in life will not easily go down there in death.”

*          *          *

The Catholic teaching on the two everlasting abodes of the afterlife is not a curious idea spun out by theologians; it is found explicitly in the New Testament. Indeed, there are few doctrines on which the inspired Word of God speaks with greater clarity.

In his first Epistle, St. John teaches the distinction between mortal sin, or the kind of sin that kills the life of grace in the soul, and venial sin, which displeases God but does not destroy the presence of grace:

If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that. All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin which is not mortal. (1 Jn 5:16-17)

800px-Fra_Angelico_010
The Last Judgement, Hell, circa 1431, by Fra Angelico

On the basis of this distinction (see the Catechism 1854–64), the Church has taught from the very beginning that unrepented mortal sin bars entrance into heaven, since the condition for entering heaven is that one’s soul be filled with the grace of Christ, and it is this grace that mortal sin destroys.

Similarly, tradition has interpreted Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet as a sign that he wishes to cleanse them of venial sins before they partake of His Body and Blood. In response to St. Peter’s statement “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!,” our Lord says, making an exception for Judas: “He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not all of you” (Jn 13:9-10). Eleven of the disciples were “clean all over,” but their feet were soiled with the day’s traveling; therefore Christ cleanses them of this lesser uncleanness.

St. Paul confirms the teaching on heaven and hell in countless places. Here are just a few:

Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will render to every man according to his works: to those who by patience and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are factious and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury. (Rom 2:4-8).

Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:19-21).

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9-10).

One can well imagine St. Paul urging us today to pay attention to his words: “Do not be deceived”—do not be deceived by liberal theologians or psychiatrists, by the mass media or the powers of this world. There will be judgment and retribution for all men according to their deeds. It does not matter whether you think there will be, or whether you think it’s fair. God has made His intentions and plans perfectly clear, and He will not be talked out of it by anyone. His first and abiding mercy was precisely to tell us very clearly how we are to live in order to inherit eternal life, and what we must avoid doing if we will avoid eternal perdition.

Even if we had only the text of the Epistles, it would be possible to establish the truth of the Church’s unbroken testimony. But it is our Lord Jesus, the teacher of St. John and St. Paul, who speaks most fearfully and threateningly about the final judgment.

Then the king said to the attendants, “Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” For many are called, but few are chosen. (Mt 22:13-14).

Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Mt 7:13-14; see Lk 13:24).

Not every one who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” And then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you evildoers.” (Mt 7:21-23; see Lk 13:27).

Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. (Mt 13:41-42).

Then he will say to those at his left hand, “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Mt. 25:41).

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mk. 16:15-16).

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him. (Jn. 3:36).

While it would be unhealthy to become preoccupied with such terrifying verses instead of devoting one’s energy to praising God, seeking His will in prayer, and building His kingdom by a life of good works, nevertheless, if we forget them, if we encourage or allow others to forget them, or worst of all, if we deny their truth, we betray the integral teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. To do this is nothing less than to betray the Person of Christ, for in denying His words, one denies the incarnate Word of the Father. Jesus came to save sinners who repent, who throw themselves upon the Father’s merciful love; He did not come to grant indiscriminate amnesty for the indifferent, the lukewarm, the unconverted, or the wicked.

Quite simply: eternity is at stake in how we live our lives here and now, what we believe, what we do and refrain from doing.

(This series includes material originally published in The Catholic Faith, vol. 5, n. 2, March-April 1999.)

13 thoughts on “Purgatory and Hell: Forgotten Destinations – Part I”

  1. Great, sobering article, Doctor.

    Question: In John 6 Christ exhorts the crowd “unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no (eternal) life in you.” If a Catholic teaches a Protestant that Christ meant this in the Eucharist, and that it is truly Christ’s body and blood, soul and divinity and the Protestant disagrees and says “no” to this teaching, could said Protestant lose eternal life in heaven? In other words, hearing this teaching and denying it is mortal sin?

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • The simple answer is yes: if a Protestant could be persuaded that in this text Jesus was speaking of his true flesh and blood (and that is amply clear from the graphic language used and the full context), and if he still refused to join that Church where alone he can consume that flesh and blood, he would be in danger of damnation.

      Of course, most Protestant read this chapter in a very different way, a way that is much harder to justify exegetically, and yet they have grown so accustomed to it that it is bound to be difficult to get them to open their minds to a different reading. That does not excuse them, but it shows that one might need to start the conversation at a different place (e.g., the reality of a visible Church with visible rulers, instituted by Christ and perpetuated in holy orders) in order to end up eventually at the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist. That is, the art of apologetics has to assess where people are at and what angle to take first.

      Reply
      • I was hurt and then let anger kick in at my (Protestant) husband tonight….so in our nightly Scripture reading I defiantly chose John 6…we were supposed to read 2 Peter 2. Please pray for me.

        Reply
        • As St. Paul says, let us always speak the truth with charity. Sometimes the truth is going to be difficult to say or to hear, but our responsibility is to bear witness to it in how we live and, when appropriate, in what we say. Our first witness to the Real Presence comes in our attendance at Mass and Adoration, which shows that we believe what we say.

          Reply
          • Thanks you and I do know this….but I constantly have to go to confession for letting my emotions turn to anger.

  2. Some people will go to Hell. That is a fact. Matthew 25 : 41. Nothing could be more explicit. We don’t know how many but we do know some will go there.

    The idea that all go to Heaven regardless is not and never has been Catholic thinking. Salvation is a choice which we must take or leave. That is up to each individual. God does not force it upon us. We are not animals in a zoo. We have, as one consequence of the Resurrection, free will, which we must exercise.

    Reply
  3. [I am thinking] about the war which will come. So many people will die, and almost all of them will go to hell ! St Jacinta of Fatima

    Reply
  4. My
    discernment on how souls go to Hell or Purgatory or Heaven

    In September, of 1995, my wife, my daughter and I went to a Marian conference in Chicago. While we there listening to the speakers, a thought came to my mind about how souls go to
    hell. Now no one was talking about this subject, for some reason I just started thinking about it. Before I go on, I must tell you that I have read several messages that state that God does not send souls to hell, that the soul sends itself to hell, and I had wondered how this could happen.

    Well as I said, I was thinking about this, and it is like this, darkness is sin and light is God. Now
    if a person lives in a room or cave of compete darkness and has been there for along time, when that person comes into the light, he or she can not stand the light so the person goes back in to the dark room. This is like a soul that has lived in sin, when the soul dies, it can not stand to look at God, Who is pure Light, so the soul drives itself into hell.

    Now the next day I was praying before Jesus in the blessed sacrament, the Holy Eucharist, when I began to think of this again and it was like this, a soul who lives in sin lives in darkness, but if the soul, while still living would let some light in, then when the soul died it would be like a person, who was in a dark room but let some light in. So then when the person went into the Light, he or she would be able to squint their eyes and look at the light and eventually be able to open their eyes all the way. This would be a soul that, when it died was not pure enough to go to heaven, so it went to purgatory.

    All souls are different some have to squint harder then others and some can adjust faster to the light and some live always in the light, their eyes are wide open, these go straight to heaven.

    Now on this same subject I would like to quote from the book “The Victorious Queen
    of The World”, a spiritual diary of a mystic, Sr. Natalia of Hungary, page 45:

    “Once I cried on Jesus shoulder: “Why did you create hell?” To answer me, Jesus brought me to the judgment of a very sinful soul, whose sins He forgave. Satan was outraged!

    “You are not just! This soul was mine all his life!” He shouted to Jesus: “This one committed so many sins, while I committed only one, and You still created hell for me.”

    Jesus then with unbound love told Satan: “Lucifer! Did you ever ask Me for forgiveness?” Then Lucifer, seemingly beside himself, shouted: “That never!
    That I will never do!”

    Then Jesus turned to me, “You see, if he could ask Me for forgiveness only once, hell would cease to exist.”

    In November 1995 I bought a book “The Sorrow, The Sacrifice, and The Triumph” by Thomas W. Petrisko, which had just come out in November 1995. This book is about Christina
    Gallagher, The Apparitions, Visions, and Prophecies.

    Now I do not promote or judge Christina Gallagher or any other visionary. I do read several books that I get at Marian conferences and some are on visionaries. I try to do as St. Paul says: Hold on to the good and let go of the bad and obey what the Church teaches.

    Now I would like to quote, what happens at death starting on page 117, “ When release from the body each soul is destined for immortal life, and its future in eternity is determined by its state when death takes place and the soul is released from the body.

    When the body dies and the soul is released, it suddenly finds itself in the full light of awareness, able to see itself as it stands in the sight of God. It then realizes the darkness to which the body’s actions condemned it. The sensitivity of the soul to the enormity of the Light of God is like the naked eye before the brilliance of a thousand suns, and the soul in darkness quivers in pain. It plunges itself into the sea of Hell to avoid the pain of the enormity of the Light.”

    Purgatory

    “The soul destined for Purgatory seeks shade at the level in Purgatory appropriate to its own imperfection. It will automatically plunge itself into which it failed to atone sufficiently; it will gladly go to whatever level of Purgatory is necessary, and it will be eternally grateful to God, in the knowledge that it will one day gain His Presence in Heaven.

    2/17/05
    Also from The Diary Of St. Faustina, I quote, “After these words, I received a deeper understanding of divine mercy. Only that soul who wants [to be damned] will be damned, for God condemns no one.(1452)

    To St. Faustina: “My daughter, know without a doubt, and once and for all, that only mortal sin drives Me out of a soul, and nothing else.” (1181)
    AND “My daughter, know that you give Me greater glory by a single act of obedience than by long prayers and mortifications.” (894)

    Also from The Diary Of St. Faustina, I quote, “At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness, and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings.” (153)

    Here is something else I would like to share with you.

    This is why Jesus asks us to live in constant penance for our sins! We should meditate on how much He suffered for our sins, in order that we might reach salvation. We should ask His forgiveness often and love Him for His unfathomable love!

    Go in peace and the Love of God
    And pray for me
    Charles Fears

    Reply

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